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The 6 Most Controversial Video Games Ever Made

Violence, sex, and drugs have long been the subject matter of popular video games. Beginning in the early 1990s, SEGA were perhaps responsible for ushering in an era of more mature and thematically adult content in an attempt to lure gamers away from popular Nintendo IPs that were dominating the market at the time.

Who can forget the shock factor of titles such as Mortal Kombat, detailing brutal death animations and raunchy characters, or licensed IPs such as Terminator and Robocop, often comprised of content seemingly unsuitable for the young children that were supposed to be playing them. It was this new wave of brutal and risque material that kept mothers and politicians up at night during the dawn of the 16 bit console era.

Pushing censorship boundaries soon spread to PC gaming, where developers were apparently far less restricted in the the regulatory processes that governed video gaming content, ever more keen to introduce obscenely violent and controversial themes into video games.

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Of course, these were themes that had long been the subject of film and television, but the notion of actually performing these lewd and sadistic acts for entertainment struck a nerve with many. Moreover, it is only very recently that video gaming has become an accepted hobby among adults, and during an era in which interactive entertainment was very much reserved for children and teenagers, several games were flagged for what was considered highly inappropriate and potentially dangerous content.

We’re not quite sure how governments and politicians collate their data, but the sentiment that video games cause violence or untoward behavior has become a popular one that has been thrown around frequently over the years. For that reason, several games have been blacklisted and purged by countries around the world for their violent and controversial content.

We’ve compiled a list of 6 such titles that we consider to be the most notorious and controversial games ever made. Take a look at our picks and as always, let us know whether or not you agree with us in the comments section below.